CALIFORNIA (Dec. 18) – Senior
Rajah Fink (Dover, Pa./Dover) collected her fifth double-double of the year on Sunday afternoon, as the Vulcans snapped a three-game losing streak with a 56-48 victory over Bloomsburg in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Crossover play at the Convocation Center.
With the win, the California (PA) women's basketball team improves to 5-4 overall behind a 1-2 record in league action. The Vulcans have won seven of the last eight meetings against the Huskies dating back to the 2015 PSAC Tournament. Meanwhile, the Huskies fall to 2-5 this season with a 0-3 mark in conference play.
Fink scored a game-high 19 points on 7-of-19 shooting and five-of-six from the free-throw line. She also tallied 13 rebounds (six offensive) and four steals while playing all 40 minutes on Sunday. Fink currently leads the league with a career-high 10.4 rebounds per game, which is nearly a six-rebound improvement from last year while at IUP.
Senior
Ciaira Loyd (Scranton, Pa./Scranton) finished with 15 points, six assists and six steals in the victory. Junior
Jordan Smith (Manassas, Va./Colgan) tallied 13 points and five rebounds, while sophomore
Allycia Harris (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./Elmer L Meyers) registered 11 rebounds – her fourth double-digit rebound game of the season.
The Huskies scored the opening basket before the Vulcans rallied off seven-straight points to take a 7-2 lead with 6:09 left in the first quarter. Bloomsburg then snapped a nearly five-minute scoring drought with five-consecutive points to tie the score at 7-7 at the 2:17-mark. Cal then mounted a 19-4 run over nearly nine minutes to take a 26-11 lead with 3:10 remaining in the second quarter. The trio of Loyd, Fink and Smith accounted for all 19 points during the rally, as the Vulcans forced six turnovers and held the Huskies to just 2-of-13 shooting. Bloomsburg scored four of the final six points in the first half and trailed 28-15 at the break.
Cal started the third quarter on a 6-1 run to take its largest lead of the game at 18 points, 34-16, on a jumper by Loyd at the 7:42-mark. The Huskies countered with a 6-1 rally before junior
Halle Herrington (Philipsburg, Pa./Philipsburg-Osceola) converted a three-point play with 5:18 left in the third quarter, 38-22. Bloomsburg cut the deficit to 10 points, 43-33, before Cal answered with six-consecutive points to seize a 50-33 lead on a three-pointer by Smith at the 7:05-mark in the fourth quarter. The Huskies eventually closed the game on 13-4 run to work the deficit to single digits yet were held without a field goal for nearly four minutes during that span.
The Vulcans finished the game shooting 36.1 percent (22-of-61) from the floor and converted 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) from the free-throw line. Meanwhile, the Huskies made just seven field goals in the first half before finishing with a .400 field-goal percentage (20-of-50) despite going 3-of-13 (13.3 percent) from long range. Bloomsburg posted a 40-34 rebounding advantage, while Cal forced 25 turnovers that were converted into 26 points.
Junior Megan Fisher led the Huskies with 15 points on six-of-nine shooting off the bench. Sophomore Katie Starr added 11 points and five rebounds, while junior Emma Gochnauer finished with six points and a team-high eight rebounds in the losing effort.
Cal continues its homestand tomorrow, Monday, Dec. 19, when it faces East Stroudsburg in PSAC Crossover action at the Convocation Center, beginning at 1 p.m.
